[plt-scheme] libGL.so

On Wed, May 06, 2009 at 10:11:18PM +0200, Bruce O'Neel wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> Installing the libraryname-dev package on Debian and Ubuntu
> normally solves this.
> 
> It seems that on Jaunty libgl1-mesa-dev installs this file.
> 
> libgl1-mesa-glx installs libGL.so.1.  Of course, what the -dev package
> does is just do the symbolic link.
> 
> I agree it's a silly choice, but, it must have made sense to someone...

The library version-numbering is supposed to keep track of compatible vs 
incompatible versins of a library. I seem to remember a coding to 
indicate the nes library is
  (a) completely compatible with the old, and should be used instead 
(for, say, a bug fix)
  (b) the new library can replace the old, but not vice versa (e.g., and 
API extension)
  (c) the new is incompatible with the old.  You should keep both 
versions around.

Usually, a library name with fewer levels of version numbering is linked 
to the most recent one with more levels, so something can be linked to 
pick the most recent compatible one at run time.

-- hendrik